Through its CEO taking care of the competition, Aprilia remains loyal and faithful to its pilot Andrea Iannone despite the torment of a sulfurous affair of positive doping control. This is to the credit of the manufacturer. But it is also a conviction, because the arguments put forward by the pilot in his defense should have earned him an acquittal long ago. However, it will be a year since he suffered the torments of a suspension which prevents him from riding any FIM approved track with a motorcycle. His appeal was studied before the Tas on October 15 with the result of a wait which will have to continue for another month to know the epilogue of a procedure where the notion of justice remains vague...
Aprilia does not let go of its driver and the manufacturer shows it. Massimo rivola, CEO of Aprilia Racing, accompanied the accused to Lausanne before the Bag who must rule on his appeal against an 18-month suspension which would take him until June 2021. We are almost arriving in November, which means that he has already been suffering this sentence for almost a year …And this will indeed be the case when the verdict will fall!
After the 12 hours of hearing at the Tas de Lausanne, Rivola hoped for a quicker decision, particularly in view of the arguments put forward by the defense. Rivola said he was disconcerted but increasingly convinced that being on the side of the Abruzzi driver was the right thing. Here's what he said.
« With the sentencing decision in mid-November, it will have been 11 months and it's already absurd. I hope it stays like this. We have been meeting since 12 hours and I don't know how it all happened. I can't give details now but I will. Two sensational acquittal cases were presented through the examination of the hair of two athletes, a Canadian and an American, acquitted without having made too many arguments, but Wada's lawyer said that two bad CAS verdicts do not don't do a fair sentence ».
“We are convinced that being on the driver's side was the right thing »
« I don't know if that's something that can be said in court, it's absurd. The sentencing in mid-November is detrimental to Aprilia but we are increasingly convinced that being on the rider's side was the right thing. There are scientists, including one who has been fighting against doping for 35 years who decided to defend Iannone after reading the newspapers. I hope justice is done, I'm baffled. We brought overwhelming arguments on our side, while Wada came to talk about nothing. From a sporting point of view, I hope Crutchlow or Dovizioso can wait if they want to come ».
Edifying words that raise questions about what is happening at the moment in the world of sports justice. A situation which also affects Aleix Espargaró who commented: “ it was a difficult day for Rivola and Andrea Iannone, almost 12 hours of discussion, I'm sure Andrea is suffering a lot. and I hope he can come back soon too because at the moment development is very difficult with a season with very close races. And race testing is almost impossible. I can't wait to ride the 2021 bike, which looks promising. Many new engineers have arrived and I would like to test the RS-GP with the new engine, we will do it in November in Jerez ».
